Just Forget the World
by kittykatloren
Summary: Talrega infuriated her, sometimes. The sidelong looks of the villagers, the whispers behind their backs, the coldness and quiet of the streets whenever they walked by. FE10 Radiant Dawn; Haar/Jill oneshot.


**A/N:** Oh, Haar/Jill. It's been too long.

Anyway, I'm not super crazy about this piece, but oh well. It was sorta kinda inspired by the song _Chasing Cars_ by Snow Patrol. Please, comments welcome!

**Words: **778  
><strong>Characters:<strong> Jill, Haar, (others)  
><strong>Time: <strong>Post-game  
><strong>Genre:<strong> Angst/Friendship

**Disclaimer: **Everything you recognize belongs to Nintendo, not me.

* * *

><p>Talrega infuriated her, sometimes. The sidelong looks of the villagers, the whispers behind their backs, the coldness and quiet of the streets whenever they walked by. She had thought she had gotten used to it, but every now and then, rage at the whole situation, at their ingratitude and closed-mindedness, just swelled up inside her heart until she couldn't take it anymore.<p>

_They'll never be like us. They're trying hard, but they're still Bengion-born, they are, ruining the honor of Daein. _

_They're not married, you know. She's probably been spreading her legs for him since she was fourteen, right under her father's nose. _

_I heard she killed her father with the Crimeans. At least he had some honor in him, and now she gets his castle? She and that man…_

_Back from the war, they think no one will notice – maybe it's okay for unmarried men and women to live together on the battlefield, but here it's just indecent. Maybe he's taking advantage of her. _

_I've never trusted him. Eyes are the window to the soul, and he's only got one, and you just can't know his heart. You can't trust a man like that._

_Aye. Whatever it is, they shouldn't live the way they do. They shouldn't impose on us as our lords, living all improper as they are. And they'll always be from Bengion, that'll never change._

_Aye. _

Every word, every conversation that they thought she couldn't hear… Jill remembered. She overheard yet another snide comment about Haar fucking the old commander's daughter, and she just couldn't take it anymore. Striding back toward home, she slammed the door as she entered, bringing Haar running. Then she turned right back around and dashed outside. She didn't look back, simply ran across the open field surrounding the castle, until a strong hand gripped her arm and jerked her to a halt.

"Jill! What's wrong?"

Violently she ripped her arm out of Haar's grasp. When she spoke, she tasted salt; the wind striking her face and the anger coursing through her veins had brought tears streaming down her face. "Why?" she said. "Why do they say things like that? They don't know anything! About me, about you, and yet they talk like – like they're damn _priests_, like they alone know what's right! How can they not trust us, after all we've done for them? Why?"

This time she didn't react when he touched her arm again. Haar gathered her into an embrace, reassuringly warm and solid, but even he could not stop her furious trembling. He didn't say anything, but simply held her until the moon was high and bright above their heads, and Jill finally began to settle down.

"I'm sorry," she murmured. "It just… It just gets to me sometimes."

"I know."

Jill slipped out of his hold and sat down on the grass. She stretched and stared at the sky, the earth pleasantly cool, and listened as Haar laid down beside her. Without really meaning to, she found his hand and squeezed it.

"Can we pretend, just for a moment?" she whispered. "Can we just lay here, and pretend we're the only people in the world?"

"Just you and me," Haar said. His sidelong gaze penetrated right through to her heart.

"Just us. We don't need anyone else."

"Sure. I can do that. What do you want to do, in this world that's just ours?"

Jill smiled. "I want to count the stars," she said. "I want to stay here forever, or if not here then up in the sky with you. We could go flying across this whole world. We can do anything, everything. On our own."

Beside her, Haar was silent. She tilted her head; he was looking at her too, but she could not read his expression. He opened his mouth, closed it again, and looked away. His fingers tightened around hers.

"Haar?"

"I don't know how," he whispered, "but I'll make it happen for you, Jill. Everything."

She stared. There was something deep and unadulterated in his voice, a determination, a soft but sure passion. It tugged at her heart, pulling her body closer to his; she curled into his side and closed her eyes. She could feel his heart racing in his chest.

"I… I believe you."

She couldn't think of anything else to say, and neither, it seemed, could Haar. No words would be enough to describe how she felt. Her heart swelled again, but no longer with anger. Now it was full of something entirely different, something she couldn't name.

Something like gratitude and affection and trust, yet different and more than all of them at once.


End file.
